Tighter FDA regulations lead to busier Rx take-back events

Maggie Millhoff of Worcester walked into the Worcester Senior Center Saturday afternoon carrying a large shopping bag full of drugs.

She was there to safely dispose of unused prescription medications during the federal Drug Enforcement Administration and local health and police departments' semiannual Prescription Drug Take-Back Day, an initiative to remove potentially dangerous drugs from languishing in people's medicine cabinets, where they could be abused, cause accidental poisoning or be stolen. Disposal through the collection sites also protects the water supply by keeping drugs from being flushed down the toilet or drain.

The drug take-back day came as the U.S. Food and Drug Administration is urging tighter controls on how doctors prescribe narcotic pain medications, the most commonly abused prescription drugs.

According to federal data, prescription drugs account for three-quarters of all drug overdose deaths in the United States.

The DEA reported in a news release that Americans participating in the six previous take-back days turned in nearly 2.8 million pounds, about 1,400 tons, of prescription drugs.

"My dad died last year and we had just filled his prescriptions," Ms. Millhoff said. "This was a great opportunity (to dispose of them)."

She said her father's medicine cabinet included painkillers as well as diabetes and kidney medications.

"He was very sick," Ms. Millhoff said.

Worcester Police Patrolman Robert O'Rourke, who was working at the Senior Center drop-off, said, "This is the busiest one we've had for the last three years."

The department and DEA had collected four full boxes of medications within three hours.

DEA agent Luz Rizzo and Worcester Police Sgt. Matthew Early said people had brought in seizure medications, cancer medications, "anything or everything in their cabinet."

Medications, except for needles and biological or hazardous medical waste, were accepted with no questions asked at more than 5,500 sites nationwide.

In addition to the Worcester drop-off, the Central Massachusetts Regional Public Health Alliance held take-back days in Holden, Leicester, Millbury, Shrewsbury and West Boylston.

Northbridge Police Dispatcher Shawn Matte said that her department, which also held a collection, had brought in more drugs than at previous take-back days, although roughly the same number of people had come in. She said four boxes were filled in the four-hour take-back time.

The officer in charge at the Fitchburg Police Department said that people had been bringing prescription drugs to the police kiosk on Main Street, but he couldn't say what the overall volume had been.

The Fitchburg medication take-back was sponsored by the Police Department, LUK Inc., the Fitchburg Community Action Team, the Nashua River Watershed Association and the Massachusetts Opioid Abuse Prevention Collaborative.

The New York Times reported that the FDA recommended on Thursday to reduce the number of narcotic painkiller refills patients could get before returning to their doctor. Patients would also have to personally bring the prescription to their pharmacy, rather than have their physician phone it in.

The policy change would affect the most widely abused drugs, which contain a combination of the narcotic hydrocodone and over-the-counter painkillers like acetaminophen or aspirin. Brand-name drugs like Vicodin or Lortab, as well as generics, would fall into this class.

According to Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the agency's Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the new regulations were expected to go into effect in 2014. The recommendation must be approved by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the DEA.

Contact Susan Spencer at susan.spencer@telegram.com. Follow her on Twitter @SusanSpencerTG.